[General Discussion] Games you consider "Perfect"?

You see games get perfect scores all the time from major publications, but how many of those do you truly consider to be "perfect"? Are there any games that you can honestly say are flawless in your eyes, games that you feel don't need any extra additions or improvements whatsoever, for any alteration would only add some uneccesary coating to a spotless foundation?

My list of "perfect" games is very very small; even my most cherished classics aren't without minor critiques or desires for improvements in future remakes or ports. There's really only two games I can think of that I still find to be flawless to this day, and here's one of them.



Bow your heads with respect, OOT fans; I decree this one not only the greatest Zelda game of all time, but quite possibly the greatest videogame of all time. Years later and I still have no real criticisms to add to Link's greatest adventure. It had the best exploration ever ("holy crap what's with that flute playing ghost!?"), it had the best Zelda artwork ever (scenes like this

and this

make me continue to wish for an anime series; I read this was once considered but ultimately dropped in favor of more Pokemon. Ah, Nintendo, always giving us what you *think* we want), and the opening dungeon theme (Hyrule Castle) is, without a doubt in my mind, the greatest dungeon theme ever; so much epic packed into one opening song.

And way before people were bitching for a more mature Zelda story often forget that Link to the Past had the darkest story of all; characters are killed onscreen, and depending on which continuity you believe (namely the manga), the Dark World is in fact the world where all living things travel to once they die. So in other words,

Spoiler:

ZELDA DIES.....briefly

I find LttP so perfect I've yet to purchase the GBA version, for the simple fact that I find the inclusion of Young Link's vocal yelps both unnecessary and inaccurate (the artwork clearly shows Link in his teens). I'll stick to the original, even if I have to emulate it (good thing I've got a PC to LCD thing going now. Triple Buffering and DVI cable=no need for a virtual console).

So if you have some games you consider flawless, tell us about them.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I'm actually playing though LttP again on the GBA, and while the yelps are annoying as fuck, the portability makes it all worth it.

I need to get some other people that have it for Four Swords though, since there's a dungeon in LttP GBA that can only be accessed by playing Four Swords.

It's my 5th time playing through the game, and I still feel it's the best Zelda ever. Most people look at me crazy when I say that, but this game took the initial Zelda concept and refined it to perfection. All Zelda games after LttP, even the 3D ones, have the same basic design principles that were introduced in this game.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE OoT, but I just feel LttP is a better game in many ways.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

For me, Tetris Attack for SNES was a perfect score. I played that game to death. Even to this day, it is still one of my favorite games of all time.

Metal Gear Solid - Hands Down the best game every made. I also have a biased view on it though because I played the NES original many years before and was so pumped when the Solid game came out for PS.

Gran Turismo - Took realism in racing to an all new level. This game was the first game I bought for PS and I still have it.

Chrono Trigger - It is the best storyline ever for its time, and many years after that. I still give it a perfect score. I also own the original case and everything still.

Harvest Moon (SNES) - The originally of this game was great and I was extremely addicted to it. Perfect score for this one, mainly for it originality and its wonderful execution.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

God of War. This is the only game that I have found to be completely perfect. There is nothing that I could think of while playing the game that I said to myself "I wish they would have done this." The atmosphere, the gameplay, the voice acting, the story...there is nothing bad about this game. I am so anticipating God of War 2...

How ya doing, buddy?

I feel the same way as you do about original versions. And that original version is:

Final Fantasy IV - USA version; SNES.

Why is it perfect? Let's start off with the storyline...

Spoiler:

The game starts with the "Red Wings" led by the lead character of the game stealing a crystal from a town of magicians, and with that, starts some action:
"Cecil: The crystal or your life!"

and some emotion by crew members later:
"Crew: Why are we robbing crystals from innocent people?"

Later on, Cecil gives the crystal to his king, and steps back to leave, but stops to work up some courage about confronting him on what they are being ordered to do:
"Cecil: We do not understand the meaning of taking crystals away from honest people."

Soon enough Cecil loses his command of the "Red Wings" (the best sports team ever, might I add ). His girlfriend is concerned about him as he is feeling down about his decision to question the very King that raised him since childhood:
"Cecil: I am just a Dark Knight with no courage to disobey his majesty."

Cecil is then sent on an errand, and in doing so he burns the nearby village of callers because of the Kings' package which contained that fire spirit. During the meyhem, a very small girl is distraught:
"Girl: Mommy! Mommy!"

It is then that Cecil thinks the killing is wrong and decides to go against the King:
"Kain: I'm afraid we must do away with her too.
Cecil: Kain! She's just a kid!
Kain: You dare to renounce your loyalty to his majesty?
Cecil: Forget it! Never again will I follow such an order!"

Shortly after Kain is lost in a quake and Cecil & the girl join forces. They meet up with Tellah, an old man filled with anger over his daughter and boyfriend running away with each other. Approaching the castle where she and the boyfriend are present, it is bombed by the Red Wings, Cecil's former brigade. Entering the castle, Tellah finds his daughter dying from the bombing and her boyfriend Edward perfectly okay. In anger, he blames him and starts to fight him:
"Tellah: You're the bard! You did this to her!"
Edward tries to explain it was a man named Golbez who is now running the Red Wings. Tellah runs off to look for revenge. Edward stays with Anna's body because he feels there is nothing left to do. Rydia tries to convince him to get up:
"Rydia: Crybaby! You are a man! You are a grown-up! You are not the only one who has lost loved ones!"

Later, the party runs into Rosa, Cecil's girlfriend, who is sick. They decide to find the Sandruby to cure her. After that journey, Edward sees an image of his passed girlfriend. She tells Edward to have courage:
"Anna: Edward... Do not let Golbez have all the crystals. You loved me. Now, give your love to all of your people."

The main journey has begun and the party is full of members. They set off to help prevent the next castle that contains a crystal from getting bombed. There is a "road block" in their way -- solid ice is blocking their ability to get through a mountain to the next castle. Rydia is the only black mage in the party and thus their only hope to be rid of it and continue the journey. She is extremely apprehensive because her home town was burned in flames:
"Cecil: She's afraid of fire because her village was destroyed in a fire.
Rosa: Listen, Rydia. You're the only one who can melt this ice.
Rydia: ...
Rosa: If we can't get through here to Fabul, more people will be in danger..."
She works up the courage to learn and use fire spell to melt the ice. Everyone cheers and thanks her.

Upon arriving at Fabul, it is bombed and raided by the Red Wings & monsters. The party helps to defend it -- all the way to the crystal room. This is where Kain returns and is surprisingly attacking his best friend Cecil!:
"Cecil: Fight with us!
Kain: Surely. But against you, Cecil!
Cecil: Kain!?"
Kain attacks and defeats Cecil in the fight. Cecil starts to realize that he must be under the mind control of Golbez. Just after, Golbez makes his appearance in the game and blasts everybody in the room and kidnaps Rosa. The crystal is then stolen.

Later, it is decided that the party should take a ship to the castle of Baron and confront the King head-on. On the way, a giant water beast attacks the ship and everybody gets seperated. Cecil is completely alone, washed up on a shore near Mysidia, the town that he stole the crystal from at the very beginning of the game. Nobody likes him in that town. Although Cecil was pushing the wise Elder around earlier to obtain the crystal, Cecil explains that he has went against the King and Elder has this to say:
"Elder: Lost your friends. It would be your trial. But as long as you depend
upon the Dark Sword, you cannot defeat true evil. Moreover, you might be
consumed with its evil at any time. If you wish to fight against evil with
good, go to Mt. Ordeals to the east of Mysidia."

With Cecil, mysidian twins accompany him to see if he can rid of his darkness. Upon arriving, they find Tellah, who is there to gain the knowledge of "Meteo" spell, the most powerful spell known, so that he can use it for his revenge.
At the top of Mt. Ordeals, Cecil hears a voice:
"Part from your past! Conquer your Darkness within! If you can't overcome
your past self, the sacred power of Light will not accept you!"
Cecil then sees a mirror image of himself and he must confront it. He decides not to attack it, as that would be the hateful thing to do. He has passed the test and becomes a paladin. Shortly after, Tellah learns meteo.

Next, their plan is to goto Baron, as it was before when Cecil was with the others before the ship crash. Upon arrival, they meet a lost party member and get him back again. After sneaking into the castle of Baron, they charge for the throne room and discover that it was not the King the whole time, but was one of the four elements:
"King: I see you've become a Paladin. But I do not like that. That's not good, Cecil.
Cecil: King Baron?
King: Baron? Who's that? Oh... I remember. He's the fool who refused to
surrender! Oh, yes! And I took his place! Ha-hah-hah!"

After defeating the fake King, the party exits the throne room and the fake King's voice is heard. He is caving the walls in of the hallway they are in and forcing the doors to stay locked. The walls are almost caved in to the point that they will all be crushed. That's when the twins, the children, decide to sacrifice themselves to save everybody:
"Palom: Thanks, dude!
Porom: We loved to be with all of you!
Porom: Please look after Cecil, Master Tellah!
Palom: Ready, Porom?
Porom: Yes!
Cecil: Wait! NO!!! Don't!!!!
Porom & Palom: STONE!
They turn themselves into stone and halt the advance of the walls.
Tellah: What a rash thing to do... HEAL! No effect. They have become stone by their will. Fools. An old man should fulfill his share first."
Everybody grieves for a few moments and Tellah swears revenge.

After escaping the room, they board an airship of the castle and are met by Kain, who is still under the spell:
"Kain: Worried? If you want her back, get me the Crystal of Earth.
Cecil: Crystal of Earth? Of Toroia?
Kain: I'll exchange her with the crystal. Crystal or Rosa's life!"

The party decides to goto Toroia but the crystal was taken by a dark elf. They meet Edward there, who was hurt from the ship accident. Edward gives the party an item called "TwinHarp" in case they need distant help from him.
Indeed, they do, because the party is unable to defeat the dark elf:
"Nurse: Stay in bed! You cannot move around! Where are you going?
Edward: Don't worry. I just want to get to... my... harp. Ouch!"
He plays his music and the dark elf cannot stand it. The party is able to kill him and retrieve the crystal.

Eventually, Golbez leads the party to a tower where he, Kain and Rosa are located. When they reach the top, Tellah is filled with rage:
"Golbez: I have no business with you, old man.
Tellah: But I do!
Tellah rushes Golbez, knocking Cecil out of the way.
Tellah: This is for Anna!!
Tellah attacks Golbez, doing very minor damage.
Golbez: No one can ever defeat me!
Tellah tries more.
Tellah: M... Meteo!
Cecil: No... don't!
Yang: It'll destroy you!
Tellah: I'm spending my life to defeat you!
Tellah casts Meteo. Golbez is smashed for 9999 damage!
Golbez: No way!"
Tellah falls over. So does Kain.
Shortly after, Tellah says his last words:
"Tellah: I.. .failed...
Tellah: I brought this upon myself. Because I lost myself in hatred. Avenge
my daughter for me, please!"

Much later, the party is in a somber mood because Golbez has collected all of the crystals, but it is found out that there is an underground and a way in!
After entering, they locate the castle of the underground, Giott's castle, and Golbez is already one step ahead of them and takes their crystal, despite Rydia's surprise return to help. The king sends the party to the tower of Bab-il to retrieve all of the crystals. Inside the tower, they are told that the crystals were returned to the upper world. Later, they find a super cannon in the tower which will destroy the underground castle. The controls are locked into place and there is no way to deactivate the sequence. That is when Yang decides to bust the controls up by sacrificing himself to save the castle:
"Yang: Tell my wife... to live for me!
Kain: Open up, Yang!
Rydia: Yang!
Rosa: Please! Please don't do this!"

Upon exiting the tower in the underground, they are chased by the Red Wings while in their airship. Cid decides to do something rash to allow them to escape the attack:
"Cecil: Cid!
Rydia: Come on!
Cid: Be good, Rydia! Hurry to Baron!
Cid jumps overboard.
Cid: Golbez! I'll show you the great fire works of Cid, the Master Engineer!
Cid detonates a bomb which seals the entrance to the Underworld. Moments
before it's completely sealed, Enterprise is able to slip back to the
overworld."

Later, the party picks up a ninja named Edge whose castle was also destroyed by Golbez. After moving down the tower of bab-il, they arrive back inside of the underground.
There is one more crystal left -- inside of a sealed cave. Giott knows how to unseal it. The party reaches the crystal room and there is no confrontation inside. They obtain the crystal and leave. They are caught by a trap and defeat it. At the entrance to this cave, Golbez's voice is heard talking to Kain:
"Golbez: Kain... Return to me, Kain... Come back to me with the crystal.
Rosa: Get a hold of yourself!
Kain: I'm... all right. I am no longer under his control!
Kain attacks Cecil.
Cecil: Ugh!
Kain takes the crystal and runs away."

Back on the overworld, the party goes to see Elder. They believe the only way for them to get to the Moon to stop Golbez is to pray for the legendary "Big Whale" airship:
"Elder: Wish, everyone! The legend shall come alive now!"
The ship emerges and they are able to goto the moon. When they arrive they eventually meet a Lunarian who tells them that there is much more going on than just Golbez's bombings:
"Cecil: Is that who is controlling Golbez?
FuSoYa: He is Zemus. He needs the crystals as the energy source to reactivate
the Tower of Bab-il. To bring down the Giant of Bab-il to annihilate the
living on earth!"

Heading back to Earth, they discover the giant is already in the process of destroying Earth. The party decides to infiltrate and destroy the giant. When they succeed, Golbez appears and the Lunarian FuSoYa uses a spell to cure him of control. It turned out that even Golbez was a puppet:
"Golbez: Why did I have all that hatred?
FuSoYa: Come to your senses! Do you remember your father's name?
Golbez: My father? His name is... KluYa?
Cecil realizes that KluYa is the name of his own father.
"Rosa: That means...
Edge: Cecil's... brother?
Cecil: Golbez is my...?
Cecil: I have been fighting my own brother...
Golbez: You are my brother?"

At the end, the party later runs into the evil Zemus. Golbez of the dark and FuSoYa the Lunarian are unable to make a dent in him.
"Zeromus: Suffer... and perish... My hatred will last until I destroy all...
Now it's your turn... Come into my darkness!"
Meanwhile, in the wishing tower, Palom, Porom, Cid, Yang, Edward and others are
watching on.
"Elder: Ahuh! Now is the time to wish for the earth! Palom! Porom! We shall
send people's wishes to Cecil!"
The wishes of the group in Mysidia gives Cecil the power to get up and use a crystal to weaken Zemus to be able to defeat him.

When the party defeats Zemus' second form, "Zeromus", he has this to say as he is perishing:
"Zeromus: I will not perish as long as there is evil in the hearts of the
people... GRRRRRRRRRR!"
After a moment, FuSoYa tells Cecil and the group this:
"FuSoYa: Evil in our minds will never disappear. We all have both evil and good
in our mind, just as there are the crystals of light and darkness, the ground
and the underground. But as long as the evil exists, so does good. Just as
you held good in your heart to fight evil."

At the end, everybody is able to rebuild their respective castles. The characters who were part of saving the world become the Kings of their castles. Cecil and Rosa are to be married and crowned. But a moment before the wedding...
"Rosa: Cecil?
Cecil: Nothing. I thought I heard my brother's voice.
Rosa: Really?
Cecil: Never mind.
After Rosa and Cid leave the room, Cecil is alone and says...
"Cecil: I did hear him. He said... good-bye."
...which is the last line in the game.

If you click the above spoiler, you will see the amount of sheer emotion that happens in every last scene of Final Fantasy IV. I will not go through what types of emotion there are, because I did not type that spoiler for 2 hours for no reason. The music is something that was done so well that it helps the storyline give it the emotion that I see in the game.

It is also the best plot I have ever read in a video game. It is filled with characterization and a non-stop quest to obtain the crystals before the enemies do.

Finally, the gameplay happens to be my favorite. Sure, there are no relics, accessories, limit breaks, and other new ideas, but I respect and love the fact that each and every character is a specific class with their own abilities and spells. I also happen to like the boss battles in this game a lot. I like the spells a lot because I end up using all of them before the game is over. Games like FF6 or 7 have so many spells that I end up ignoring most of them.
They did a really good job at not going over board with this FF game and giving the game the boundries of unique classes so that everybody can work as a team to beat the battles.

So, it's perfect because it's extremely well-rounded in those areas.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I didn't enjoy Zelda 3 as much as I would've hoped, but I must admit that it's difficult to find any shortcomings in the game. I enjoy OOT more not because it's superior in the game design department but because it's more cinematic and epic about everything. I'm curious as to what you consider to be your other perfect game since you said you had two.

A perfect game? I have a handful of candidates, but there's one that I think perhaps qualifies just a tad bit more than the others.



Funny story, but I first played this game in my younger days after renting it somewhere. I recall not knowing what to do in the beginning area and getting a bit annoyed. I returned it thinking that it was nothing special. Fast forward to 2001 and I was borrowing some games from a friend. He lent me Super Punch Out, Megaman X, and yes, Super Metroid. I played through the other two first. Both quality games, especially Super Punch Out, which is still a total blast to play at any time. Then I decided to try Super Metroid again, and for whatever reason, it clicked that time. I figured out about finding hidden paths and such. I became immersed in the uniquely alien atmosphere of the game. Needless to say, I enjoyed it a great deal, and before my friend left to join to the army, he told me I could keep Super Metroid and he even left me the strategy guide. Over the years I've played through the game a number of times and my appreciation for it has only grown. It's a masterpiece of game design from beginning to end. The ultimate in 2D exploration. You really have to make use of all your abilities to find every cleverly concealed secret and each area is designed with those abilities in mind. There is virtually no wasted space in this game. Meanwhile your strength and versatility grows as you work your way to Mother Brain and an unexpectedly emotional twist in the story. When all is said and done, the game is as inspired as it is well designed. It even influenced future sidescrollers with its map mechanic and addictive approach to exploration. I couldn't ask for more and I wouldn't change a thing about it.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Chrono Trigger. Fucking Chrono Trigger. Never has there been a game more perfect in my mind. So much exploration, and tons of hidden little awesomes that make this game the gift that keeps on giving. It has such an epic story line, and such an epic world (in 5 different iterations i might add) all perfectly laid out, and arranged for a story that comes next to none. I found a copy of it just recently, and am playing through it again. Even now, i have no complaints with this game. The only issue is that loading time between screens on this PS1 version are borderling unbearable, but i'm sure i'll adjust.

Resident Evil 4. This game is probably next in line for me. The environment, and atmosphere it creates just leave you wanting more and more every time you play it. The action leaves you on the end of your seat, and it's even scary to boot. I've never played any game as many times as i've played RE4, and i'm still not sick of it. Every time i watch the ending i get a little pissed off cause i wish there were more. All i can say is that RE5 had better be damn good.

Chrono Cross. This game isn't quite perfect, but it's damn close. Basically for the same reasons as Chrono Trigger. The only big problem i have with the game is that i thought the world they gave you to play in was a little small. I would've loved it so much if you could play the game on the Zennin Mainland, and visit all theh places in Chrono Trigger as well.

FELIPE NO

Helloween, can you do me a favor and briefly tell me the storyline of CT in the same format as I did in my long SPOILER above? Doesn't have to be as long, but please tell me the story in an enthusiastic way. Add your own comments if you want. Tell me what you find brilliant. Use quotes directly from the game like I did. Here's the script: http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/snes/...ger_script.txt
Obviously I can't just read all that. I don't understand the context of where they are just by reading that. That's why I'd like your input and opinion.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I agree with Vivi that Tetris Attack was a hit. One of my favorite puzzle games and the music and graphics were superb in that game.

I consider Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast a perfect game also, and not just because Gamespot said so. Out of the three that have come out, this one has gripped me the longest. A lengthy mission mode, short loading times, amazing graphics. Also probably the best selection in characters. Even though SCIII had a good bunch, they didn't play like the original, plus they changed up half the moves lists for everyone. Also, SC had great music. The music was GREAT.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I've turned pretty cynical about games in general so picking the perfect game will be tough, I'm sure I can think of more but the main one that springs to mind for me right now that hasn't been said already has to be sonic 3 and knuckles one of the 2D greats.

Sure the 2 player modes pretty shit in comparison but that seems to be a tradition with most sonic games, It's difficult to define what it is exactly about it, I don't think I've played any other game with a plot that actually has not a single line of dialogue between characters, if you ignore the backstory you'd read in the manuel or something but tbh who reads the manuels?

Edit: Shadow of Colosus and Ico were unique experiences too I'd choose over generic FPS and RPG games any day

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I really don't consider ANY game perfect, since each has their own flaws and their downsides. The one's that has come closest?



Apart from being the first RPG game that I played, it's story is VERY deep, the esper system is very intuitive and it makes the game a lot of fun to play. The Characters have their own motives and each character is fairly well developed (with the exception of the last few characters). With so many characters, I'm surprised that Square had the time and patience to develop each one. Also, Mog is friggin playable! He's a friggin playable character. And possibly the only moogle that is playable until Final Fantasy Tactics Advance came out.

The soundtrack is also one of the best I've ever heard. I'd say it's probably Uematsu's best work.

How ya doing, buddy?

Galaga, Pokemon Puzzle (I preferred this version to the others...I like having a couple extra seconds when the stack hits the top. ;p), Zelda 3, Marvel vs Capcom 1, Guilty Gear XX#Reload, Castlevania 3, Lords of Thunder, Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Mario 3 would be the only ones I'd consider absolutely perfect. More complex games tend to have more issues just by common nature (including RPG's), despite whatever they do well...It's the simple, but addictive ones that are both awesome and extremely tough to criticize for doing the one thing they do right extremely well. All the ones I listed are aesthetically some of my favorites as well.

The fighters are iffy because of balancing issues and the fact that their single player modes are lame, but those are the 3 that stand out for depth and producing some of my favorite competitive match-ups/battles. They're there with the assumption of multiplayer (and secret characters turned off!)

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I have to concur with many of these choices.

LoZ: LttP I would agree has to be the best Zelda yet. OoT comes infinitely close to besting it, but music and gameplay have to lean to the SNES game. My friend is playing through it for the first time right now, and it's beauty is in the discoveries. I remember almost everything about the game, because each thing that I discovered when I played through was worthwhile and made a huge impact on me. It made exploration amazing again, much like the first game in the series.

Resident Evil 4: I've never played through a game in one sitting until this one. What more can be said about it? It is the ultimate over-the-shoulder game, and I think Gears Of War took more than one idea from it. Third-person with accurate aiming... does it get any better? Not to mention the great voice acting, storyline, atmosphere, bosses, the challenge. This is a game I will continue to play often in the years to come.

FFIV: Best RPG I've played because it was simple, had a great story, great characters, a kicking soundtrack, and uniqueness. I love how the individualness of the characters isn't screwed around with. It seems every FF game now you can customize the characters, and essentially every character can do everything. Not so in this game. And this is better because it makes the characters DEFINED and not abstract bodies. This and so many moments of greatness bring this to the top of my list everytime.

Super Metroid: You can't have a list without it. I mean, you can play this game 20 million times and still enjoy it. I believe every game on this list succeeds because it has challenges that payoff. This game bleeds this characteristic. I mean combining beams! Space jump!! Screw attack!!! Hyper-beam!!!! This game kicks so much ass, has so much atmosphere, and the music. Perfect game.

There are other mentions here that are great: FFVI, Chrono Trigger, Gran Turismo, Soul Caliber. The last 2 especially. You know a game is great when you beg someone to trade consoles with you for a couple weeks !

The one I feel that needs to be added to the list however...



Say what you will, but this game is perfect. Some may bitch about the controls, but that's only because they were expecting something different and don't want to learn new control. Other than that complaint, there are no other possible complaints. The controls are tight, the story excellent and engaging, the rewards well worth the challenges, the bosses amazing, the graphics stellar, the sound and music so freaking memorable. I still can't get over the ambiance of this game. Only with the other titles mentioned above have I been that engrossed in a universe. From the morph ball to the targeting system, to the visors, to the beams. Such a perfect game. Played through at least twice, and I honestly want to go through it again soon.

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I'm going to steer away from console games, since I expect many people to nominate the few games I would otherwise, not to mention that I doubt many people will nominate PC games.

There are two RTS I can think of which I'd consider to be near-perfect: Command&Conquer: Tiberian Dawn (that's the first one, I hated Tiberian Sun) and Starcraft (along with Brood War).

Let's start with Starcraft: The game, in itself, is incredibly fun. I don't know of too many strategy games released back in 1997 that are still widely played, had 3 completely different factions, had multiplayer support on that level and had the kind of campaign with in-depth story Starcraft has. I still remember a bunch of memorable quotes from that game. The cinematics are also memorable, and considering when they were made, extremely high quality. I think I could quote Acturus' entire speech from when he crowns himself Emperor of the Terran Dominion. There's not much else to say, really, and it's not like it matters; anyone who likes RTS has already played Starcraft, everyone who doesn't like RTS, well, they won't care about this game anyhow.

The second one, Command&Conquer: Tiberian Dawn, is equally good. It was released back in 1995 (or was it even earlier?), and I still replay both campaigns entirely from time to time. The gameplay is fun, the universe is fairly decent and there's a fuckton of cutscenes. There's at least one between each mission, and considering that this was made more than 10 years ago, and that Westwood didn't have that much budget back then, the stuff they've put together is fairly neat. From the background on the conflict, to info on tiberium, to mission objectives, everything you get story-wise comes through the cutscenes. The best part is that most of those cutscenes are first-person, meaning that when you're given a mission, people are talking to you, you're not watching a play.

This brings me to one of the reasons I love this game as much as I do: Kane. For those of you who've never played the game, Kane is the leader of the Brotherhood of Nod, the so called "bad-guys". The thing is, the guy is so goddamn charismatic that if the Brotherhood of Nod were to exist, and even knowing that Nod uses terrorism, slaughters entire villages and burns down orphanages, and then use the media to blame it on the GDI (the good guys), murders anyone who gets in their way and that Kane doesn't hesitate to kill his subordinates himself, not to mention some even more inhumane stuff, I would still fucking join them. Call me some sort of fanboy, but that's just how things are. There's just something to the way the briefings with Kane are that makes it impossible to dislike him. As I've said before, it might have something to do with the cutscenes being first-person. When he's talking to you and saying, for example, "my faithful friend" in the last cutscene, or when he lets you choose between 4 monuments to blow up at the end (by the way, the game has 6 possible endings), it makes much more of an impact than watching some actors from third person.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - It's easy as hell, but it's so much fun to play. None of the sequels even approach the quality of SotN even with their added gimmicks. They're all supposed to be innovative in their own way, but they all just feel like watered down variations of SotN. I think that proves that Symphony of the Night was a perfect game.

FELIPE NO

I'd also jump on the Chrono Trigger bandwagon but everyone's already talked about it.

Why has nobody mentioned Day of the Tentacle. LucasArts made alot of legendary adventure titles for the PC but DotT will always be my favorite because I grew up with it (so perhaps I'm a bit biased, but so is everyone else in this thread). It's got one of the most amusing storlines in the history of games and the characters have more personality than the entire cast of every Final Fantasy game ever. Plenty of little in-jokes and amusing shit to click on, it's pretty much one of the 5 best games the Adventure genre has to offer. The soundtrack is excellent as well, I haven't played it in 5 years (no DOS) and I can still remember those delicious midi tunes.

Another title which quickly comes to mind is Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando. I love the over-the-top sci-fi atmosphere mixed with ridiculous humor, beautifully mastered with the best soundtrack ever. Whereas most games suffer from taking themselves too seriously, this game doesn't even have the pretense of seriousness, which is quite refreshing when even fuckiing Starfox tries to be dramatic. The first title had its flaws but the sequel went above and beyond correcting them, making what I consider one of the few perfect games. I would recommend it to anyone, especially fans of the show Futurama (from which I think R&C drew a bit of influence).

Lords of Thunder, like GoldfishX mentioned, is pretty much flawless. The only other shmups I would hold to its caliber are Contra III for the SNES, and perhaps R-Type Final.

Originally Posted by Borg1982

Use quotes directly from the game like I did. Here's the script: http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/snes/...ger_script.txt

Um, okay let me get out my MLA handbook so I can properly cite those quotations for you Mr. 1982.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Super Metroid. The game definitely creates a wonderful atmosphere, probably the first game I ever played to give the feel of an atmosphere while playing it. The world seems massive, but it is easy enough to traverse the entire planet quickly. There's a ton of hidden stuff to find, and several different ways of going through the game. In fact, the glitches in the game add to the gameplay, rather than breaking it, creating even more paths through the game and different ways to find items.

Tetris Attack is close (even has good AI, of varying levels), and Tetris for the Game Boy is also close, but it could do with more gameplay options. I haven't tried Tetris for the DS, but if the control is like the Game Boy version, it has a shot.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

tetris DS is everything you ever wanted in a tetris game. EVERYTHING.

Most amazing jew boots

Streetfighter 2.
The king of all games, still shines like no other

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

See, for my money, no game is perfect. Even the ones I really want to say come so fucking close, like Final Fantasy VI, Shining Force II, Final Fantasy Tactics or Dragon Force. There's always something that makes them not quite there. Whether it's a translation issue, or maybe the music isn't quite there, there's always something. Hell, in FF VI I'd say the fact that we had to do away with the more adult references hurts it. In Shining Force, we see the same thing, Dragon Force didn't have enough troop variation... there's always something you can nitpick at. There are games that are on a pedestal, no doubt, but they still have flaws.

How ya doing, buddy?

Dragon Quest III. Regardless of which version of the game you played, you were in for the time and the challenge of your life. You could ride solo, you could duo, trio, or go for a full party. You could choose so many distinct classes, then hit up the Shrine of Dharma and create hybrid upon hybrid of each and every class to have ultimate customized classes. This was only the NES version too.

Once SNES and GBC versions came along, they took perfection to a whole new level. To this very day, Dragon Quest III GBC is without a doubt the single best portable cartridge you can own hands down. A real pity the DS didn't support those in the end though. ;_;

I was speaking idiomatically.

I'd like to second Starcraft here. It's perfect. It's speedy as hell, and the units are excellent. You cannot produce as much as a Age of Empires game -- and that's a good thing. Makes managing it easier and getting to the war faster.

I'm glad to see someone seconded FF4, the best game ever.

Mario 3 is also the best platformer made. It's better than Mario World to me because of the challenge in levels. Also, you cannot just goto a secret level like in World and obtain all the items you want. (In world you can goto that secret level and get yoshi and 2 capes whenever you want). There are restrictions in the number of clouds, p-wings, etc.

Double Post:

Originally Posted by Kostaki

Dragon Quest III. Regardless of which version of the game you played, you were in for the time and the challenge of your life. You could ride solo, you could duo, trio, or go for a full party. You could choose so many distinct classes, then hit up the Shrine of Dharma and create hybrid upon hybrid of each and every class to have ultimate customized classes. This was only the NES version too.

Once SNES and GBC versions came along, they took perfection to a whole new level. To this very day, Dragon Quest III GBC is without a doubt the single best portable cartridge you can own hands down. A real pity the DS didn't support those in the end though. ;_;

Completely agreed. DW3 is my favorite DW game of all time. I love how you have to pick classes. The GBC remake is excellent.

I don't "perfect" this game because it doesn't have a masterful & cinematic story with tons of characterization, but its the best DW there is.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Well, it's awkward, as I don't think any game has been truly perfect. With every favourite game I have, I've grown to accept that there are criticisms of it. That said, there are a few that come damn close.

Top of the list is probably Vagrant Story (although Final Fantasy XII is dangerously close to replacing it, it's too soon and I can't work out its long term worth). It comes at the very top of my perfect idea of an RPG. Is it a perfect game? No, and I don't believe it ever could be, but it represents the exact setting I want to see from a fantasy video game. When it comes down it, I don't care about rich, exotic, locales, fantasy for me should mean a dark gothic environment and complex, interesting characters. The gameplay has its detractors, I know, but the story just completely outweighs that niggling annoyance that it takes longer than it should to navigate the menus. No anti-hero in video gaming has ever come close to Sydney Losstarot, and there are very few villains more interesting than the misguided but dangerously powerful Romeo Guildenstern.

The second is Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Again, I know there are problems with it, there's too much of the Inverted Castle that's pointless unless you're a completionist. But the overall gaming experience makes this my ultimate 2D game (yes, it even edges out over Super Metroid)

The third is LttP, and I don't think there's anything much more that can be said about it. Twice as epic as most Final Fantasy games, and three times as fun. Again, there are a few niggling (for a game music buff like me, it was disappointing that all the dungeons beyond the first three - had the same background theme - which was especially noticable during Ganon's Tower). That said, the fact that my only complaints with these games are so...petty, illustrates how good they actually are.

The fourth is Half Life 2. I've played many FPS's before, but this was the first that actually felt completely immersive to the point where I truly felt that I was involved in the story. No other FPS (or indeed, any other game) has managed something as terrifying, yet insanely fun, as We Don't Go to Ravenholme.

The final game (also already mentioned here) is Resident Evil 4. Yes, I know it's not scary at all, but when it comes to blowing the hell out of assorted nasties, invisible creepy crawlies, and insane commandoes with Trigun-style angel arms, there's no equal. Sole criticism: not enough Wesker! Personally, I don't think Resident Evil 5 can possibly match the innovative and aesthetically pleasing Resident Evil 4. Naturally, I hope to be proven wrong.

Oddly, as an honourable mention, I'd like to speak out for the little respected FPRPG, Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines. More than the others, this is a long way from perfect, but it (as Deus Ex did before it) represents a step towards what I've ultimately been looking for from a video game; a perfect first person game with truly integrated RPG elements. I don't believe it's happened yet, and I want this to be the ultimate goal of any PC game developer.

Well, there were supposed to be pics with this post, but I think this has gone on for quite long enough!

How ya doing, buddy?

Some people mentioned Tetris DS...I WANTED to put that, but I really hate the way the regular Tetris mode relies too much on moving the pieces once they've fallen. With all the modes and everything, it's one of the greatest puzzlers ever made, but that issue frustrates the living hell out of me everytime I play.

I do think though, the original GB Tetris deserves to be labeled as "Perfect". It set the standards for so many other puzzle games and is still the ideal mechanics for a Tetris game. And it's portable to boot.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

As if I need to put any thought into this.

Toejam and Earl 1. The first game I ever saw two players cooperatively helping together to share presents/items and one of the first cooperative games I've ever played. Instead of it being a competitive game, you actually helped eachother.

It's rare, I know, but there isn't a large supply of games where they're 1) cooperative and 2) able to have a single player on a certain level while the second player, on an entirely different level, roams around.

In fact I've never come across another game quite like this. It's relatively long (25 levels) and it can last you a good night to play through it by yourself. The random map generator is also great, so you technically aren't playing the same game over and over.

There's also Ecco, the first title, but I wouldn't call it perfect. Near perfect maybe. Same goes for the likes of Chrono Trigger, Super Metroid, Rayman, Lemmings, and so on. But they all have their flaws.

Then again I'm sure Toejam and Earl isn't without it's flaws either. It's rather slow and that irrirates some people. Other people just can't stand the amount of roaming around and searching the game has. Plus, you can kill yourself by opening an unsuspecting present which flat out electrocutes you to death. But uh, yeah I don't really see these as huge issues.

Jam it back in, in the dark.